1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer and, more specifically, to a printer having a paper feed mechanism.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional printer is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-053241.
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a conventional printer. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a chassis shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a conventional printer 1 has a chassis 10. On chassis 10, a press roller 20 and a feed roller 30 are mounted. Feed roller 30 is rotatable in a direction indicated by an arrow 30b, and as feed roller 30 rotates, a sheet of recording paper 100 pinched between feed roller 30 and press roller 20 is fed.
On chassis 10, a motor bracket 64 is mounted. On chassis 10, a shaft 41 is rotatably held close to motor bracket 64, and on shaft 41, a gear 43 is mounted. Gear 43 receives the rotating force of the motor and rotates.
A feed gear 31 is mounted to be engaged with gear 43. Feed gear 31 is connected to feed roller 30, and as feed gear 31 rotates, feed roller 30 also rotates.
On chassis 10, a press roller holder 21 is attached rotatable in the direction indicated by an arrow 21a, and at a tip end portion of press roller holder 21, press roller 20 is held. Press roller holder 21 urges press roller 20 toward feed roller 30.
On chassis 10, a carrier assay 51 is mounted, and carrier assay 51 includes a printing portion 50. Printing portion 50 sprays ink to a sheet of recording paper 100, so as to print characters and images on the sheet of recording paper 100.
As shown in FIG. 7, on an end portion of feed roller 30, feed gear 31 is positioned, and feed roller 30 is held by a bearing 38 on chassis 10.
In such printer 1, when gear 43 receiving the rotation of the motor rotates, feed gear 31 also rotates. Accordingly, feed roller 30 positioned coaxially with feed gear 31 rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow 30b. As the sheet of recording paper 100 is pinched between feed roller 30 and press roller 20, the sheet of recording paper 100 also moves, and thus, the paper is fed.
Such a conventional printer, however, requires a press roller holder 21 for holding press roller 20, and therefore, the number of components is disadvantageously large.
Further, press roller 20 attached to press roller holder 21 rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow 21a. Therefore, the distance between the sheet of recording paper 100 and printing portion 50 may vary, possibly degrading precision of printing.